Yelagiri!

<Out of habit I check my last post and that was way back in August. No travel in September, what the fuck am I doing :X :X.. anyway lets get started :D>

 What do you do when you have a 5 day straight holiday and the travel freak in you starts jumping all over the place but you also gotta celebrate Diwali / Indian customs/ rituals/ married me / bla bla - You have a mini 2 day Diwali and rest of the three days you go travelling <3

 So this is again a short weekend trip. Yelagiri (a tiny hill station) is around 230 kms from Chennai. If you plan the route accordingly you can also cover Gingee Fort (also called Troy of the east) on the way.  

Fun Fact: Gingee Fort was ranked as the most impregnable fort by Shivaji but ironically it has changed multiple hands, first the Cholas, Vijayanagaras, Marathas, Mughals, French and then the Brtish. 

It has three major forts Krishnagiri ( around 900 granite steps), Rajgiri( around 1600 granite steps) and Chandrayandurg. We climbed the Krishnagiri fort and it was not easy! You will find monkeys in all sizes and we needed a stick to shoo them away. The fort has a combination of architecture which you will see in the gates, dome shapes, temples etc clearly showing the influence of multiple dynasties. 

After a two hour trek, we headed towards Yelagiri  (we traveled by road, sorry forgot to mention initially :P).  Now we had already covered around 170 kms from Chennai and were left with some 3-4 hrs of journey to reach Yelagiri. For lunch I would highly recommend Himalaya Hotel @Thiruvanamalai for an authentic south Indian meal ( For Rs 150 per person it definitely is a steal!). Apart from this regular munching, chit chats, multi lingual songs and most importantly the game CONTACT was on <If you don't know how to play contact, ask around, it is a necessity >. 

Finally we reach Yelagiri, we had booked rooms at the Landmark which is a rather classy place and for the "chindi" me an absolute waste of money for spending a night :D. But anyway we had a comfortable stay with good food and chai!. Next day early morning we started for our second trek " Swamimalai trek". I think its my deteriorating fitness level that I found none of this easy. This trek passes through dense plantations and no monkeys. We simply loved the whole trail. It was hardly crowded and you could be so amidst nature; smell the leaves, breathe the fresh air! 

We come back on time to get that okaish complimentary breakfast, get ready and leave the hotel. Next we need to find the perfect spot for paint ball. We end up going to all the places which were advertised heavily and find below average arrangements. Finally guided by our fairy spirit we reach the perfect destination Wildzone. We get all the fancy uniforms, armor, guns, pellets and walk in the arena feeling exactly like two armies. Ofcourse me and Suresh kicked some ass :P but only after a tough and serious battle.  We also did one more activity called the Rope Course, it definitely seemed like a very complex course. 



 You come out of Wildzone and you will see this husband wife duo selling hot snacks. Four of us ate till our hearts were full and guess what we had to pay only Rs 55/-  :O. 

 Was there something else we could have done here? I don't think so, people generally come here to have a leisure trip. But considering the fact that you have very few weekend getaways near Chennai (read Pondi, Pondicherry, Puducherry :|), Yelagiri is certainly a bliss. 

 Duration - 2 days
Total Cost - Rs 3750 per person. 

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